Experten V/A-14 Vampire

[VF5SS]

Experten is working on a new resin kit of the VF-14. This time it's the one from Macross 7 PLUS. He admits that some parts were reused from the M3 because the original art for the M7 one is so rough.

http://experten.cocolog-nifty.com/blog/2014/12/vfa-14-6c93.html

[MILKAUTICO]

Experten is working on a new resin kit of the VF-14. This time it's the one from Macross 7 PLUS. He admits that some parts were reused from the M3 because the original art for the M7 one is so rough.

http://experten.cocolog-nifty.com/blog/2014/12/vfa-14-6c93.html

141210e.jpg

[jvmacross]

Too skinny...but wow...have to admire that it will even be made/sold....

Kit guys have all the fun!

[M'Kyuun]

Love the black version, minus the boob guns. Sometimes, I have to wonder what Kawamori was thinking when he added odd design quirks like that, esp when the flaps from the blue and white version look much better, and make it a truer homage to its SR-71 inspiration. Bandai would be smart to hire this guy, or put him under contract to produce mass production kits of his Macross models. I'm not a modeler, as I lack the talent, but I think I'd spring for a few of these if the price was decent and they were made in the same vein as Bandai's Gundam models.

[Zinjo]

Love the black version, minus the boob guns.

Yeah those guns are udderly rediculous...

[Valkyrie addict]

Holly fvck! so awesome!!

[djivaldi7]

So did these actually ever sell?  

[tekering]

2 hours ago, djivaldi7 said:

So did these actually ever sell?  

They were apparently available at WonderFest in the winter of 2020 for ¥20,000 each.

Edited August 23 by tekering

[Bolt]

So there's like 8 of them out there...?

[Urashiman]

3 hours ago, Bolt said:

So there's like 8 of them out there...?

most likely

[Chronocidal]

For how few of these ever seem to get produced, I have to wonder if they'd actually be better off sold as printable CAD models for people to produce themselves.

At least then people without access to the conventions would get a chance to appreciate their existence.  

[Duymon]

11 hours ago, Bolt said:

So there's like 8 of them out there...?

and all 8 of them are probably just sitting in peoples' Backlogs / closets, never to see the light of day XD

Edited August 23 by Duymon

[djivaldi7]

I couldn't find anything else by, or about, Experten.  Anyone know his bio and other things he might have made?  And, yes,  he could have done an online 3d printer file thing and done well... 

[Convectuoso]

21 minutes ago, djivaldi7 said:

I couldn't find anything else by, or about, Experten.  Anyone know his bio and other things he might have made?  And, yes,  he could have done an online 3d printer file thing and done well... 

http://experten.cocolog-nifty.com/blog/

 

Maybe @ChristopherB has one of these kits

 

[SpacePirateNeko]

If a lot of people want this ill add it to my to-do list. Im almost done with the centipede ( i need to  design the interior which there is nor reference for ). Ive always had an interest in the vampire

Edited August 24 by SpacePirateNeko

[djivaldi7]

14 hours ago, SpacePirateNeko said:

If a lot of people want this ill add it to my to-do list. Im almost done with the centipede ( i need to  design the interior which there is nor reference for ). Ive always had an interest in the vampire

Well... that's the paradox. I'd jump on a VF14 if you offered.  The market for most of these specials is large,  but the message doesn't get broadcast to this side of the ocean effectively when a Japan garage shop releases at Wonderfest.  So when examples like these do go on sale years after the fact, the EBay price point is astronomical.  Patreon and Kickstarter are helping bridge the gap a bit for one's designed outside Japan.

VF1AG (Armored Gerwalk ) is nearing completion.  If that does well,  it should be a solid indicator of how a VF14 would do.  

[SpacePirateNeko]

10 hours ago, djivaldi7 said:

Well... that's the paradox. I'd jump on a VF14 if you offered.  The market for most of these specials is large,  but the message doesn't get broadcast to this side of the ocean effectively when a Japan garage shop releases at Wonderfest.  So when examples like these do go on sale years after the fact, the EBay price point is astronomical.  Patreon and Kickstarter are helping bridge the gap a bit for one's designed outside Japan.

VF1AG (Armored Gerwalk ) is nearing completion.  If that does well,  it should be a solid indicator of how a VF14 would do.  

Well...i do also live in Japan. However  as of now i only design them and then sell the stls to print. For now anyway until i can find a good solution for  selling kits themselves.  As of now i only make them and release on my artstation.....i wonder how to get more traction liek this. Eventually i am interested in opening up my own business like this , getting licences etc.

Edited August 25 by SpacePirateNeko

[djivaldi7]

3 hours ago, SpacePirateNeko said:

Well...i do also live in Japan. However  as of now i only design them and then sell the stls to print. For now anyway until i can find a good solution for  selling kits themselves.  As of now i only make them and release on my artstation.....i wonder how to get more traction liek this. Eventually i am interested in opening up my own business like this , getting licences etc.

Can you outline or list the ones you have done already?  And how do you transact?  I've promoted new products and have channels here for both s/w and product.  Switch to PM communication if you care to.

[Bolt]

14 hours ago, SpacePirateNeko said:

Well...i do also live in Japan. However  as of now i only design them and then sell the stls to print. For now anyway until i can find a good solution for  selling kits themselves.  As of now i only make them and release on my artstation.....i wonder how to get more traction liek this. Eventually i am interested in opening up my own business like this , getting licences etc.

If you had these kits listed with prices, you might be surprised how many would grab them. Provided, the quality is good.

[Chronocidal]

I can't speak for how well they're advertised, but I've picked up a couple of very high quality CAD models for printing myself.  Whether the work put into them can be effectively represented by the prices they'll sell for in that format is up for debate though, as most of the ones I've picked up have been in the $20-$50 range, depending on details and options involved.

Granted, it's much easier for digital models to just be pirated, so there's always risk involved there of having the model spread out of your control.  No digital asset of this nature can be reasonably secured to the point that someone can't just email someone else the files, and going beyond that would require much more complex and expensive licensing systems for their use.

The real benefit though?  Having the files to make your own prints means you aren't limited by the intended scale.  You'll have to make adjustments obviously, but if you have the know-how, you can easily resize and edit completed models to make something more customized to your liking.

It's completely understandable why folks who design these wouldn't want to be sharing their work in that manner.  I just wish there was an easier way for these Experten kits to be distributed beyond conventions, and especially beyond single-digit production runs.

[djivaldi7]

2 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

I can't speak for how well they're advertised, but I've picked up a couple of very high quality CAD models for printing myself.  Whether the work put into them can be effectively represented by the prices they'll sell for in that format is up for debate though, as most of the ones I've picked up have been in the $20-$50 range, depending on details and options involved.

Granted, it's much easier for digital models to just be pirated, so there's always risk involved there of having the model spread out of your control.  No digital asset of this nature can be reasonably secured to the point that someone can't just email someone else the files, and going beyond that would require much more complex and expensive licensing systems for their use.

The real benefit though?  Having the files to make your own prints means you aren't limited by the intended scale.  You'll have to make adjustments obviously, but if you have the know-how, you can easily resize and edit completed models to make something more customized to your liking.

It's completely understandable why folks who design these wouldn't want to be sharing their work in that manner.  I just wish there was an easier way for these Experten kits to be distributed beyond conventions, and especially beyond single-digit production runs.

So...what did $25 - $50 get you for stl files? Accessoriy/add-ons, or complete vehicles?

 

[Chronocidal]

Generally complete vehicles, with varying amounts of detail and parts.

I think the simpler one was the model I got to print an Arwing from Starfox 64, and I actually simplified it and shrunk it down to make an easier to display model, since the intended size had a two-foot wingspan, a full cockpit, and even mechanically linked swing wings.  I closed the cockpit, and turned the wings into simple pinned hinges.  I might make the bigger one later, but it's a shelf hog.

The higher end file is one intended to print a 1/12 scale X-Wing for use with displaying the larger scale figures.  Now, I have no intention of making one that big, but the model is beautifully designed, with a lot of very logical parts separation, and some good mechanization for the wings.  I know I'll lose some detail, but my intent is to print out a studio scale version at 1/24.